Stay

She danced around the bar with short, short distressed light blue shorts with a white tank top. Her cowboy boots had no match to making a sound against the country song being blasted around us. Her hair flowed effortlessly down her back as she fixed the cowboy hat that I gave her a few nights ago. There were guys staring at her and there were girls envying her, she didn’t notice but I did. I wanted to walk up to each of the guys and tell them to stop eye fucking her because she was mine. She was mine but then she wasn’t. It was complicated. Lauren was like a butterfly. She flew to where she pleased. She was delicate, strong and unique.

“Jordan!” her voice echoed through me as she walked towards me.

“What sweetheart?” A smile was forever on my face when I was around her… thinking about her… talking to her… texting her.

“Come dance with me,” her perfect little mouth pouted. I don’t dance, but without a second thought I grabbed her hand and walked farther into the dance floor to dance with her. The song was slow as she wrapped her arms around my neck as I placed my hands on her hips. We swayed together. I didn’t do dancing, ever. I absolutely hated it, but with Lauren… I wanted to be with her. I wanted to be touching her. I wanted everyone to know that she was mine.

***

I carried her up the gravel road to my house.

“Where are we going?” she asked softly as she kept her head against my chest.

“To the house,” I murmured and held her a little tighter. As I got to the door, I saw Marc holding the door open for us. I nodded at him to say thank you. I carried Lauren up the stairs to my room then gently set her on my bed. Her eyes were closed and once she touched the bed, her body curled up. I shut the bedroom door and found a shirt and workout shorts of mine for her to wear. I don’t think her white tank top and daisy dukes were comfortably enough to sleep in. When I turned around, her boots were off her feet and her tank top was half off. I chuckled softly before helping her take off her clothes. Once she began to pull her bra off, I quickly closed my eyes. Jordan. Do. Not. Look. It’s not fair to her.

“Jordan,” her voice was very quiet.

“Yeah baby?” I asked softly quickly looking at the ground to see her shorts, tank top, boots, socks and bra laying there. My eyes went to where she was sitting on my bed… in my shirt and in her underwear. Oh my God, could she be any more perfect that she already is?!

“Why are you so caring of me?” She was sitting on her heels looking at me. Drunk Lauren had no filter.

“’Cause I care about you. You’re my girl.” I shrugged.

“Why?” her arms reached for me as I sat down beside her.

“Because whenever I see you, I get these… butterflies in my stomach and a warm feeling comes over me. It feels like I scored the game winning goal of game seven of the Stanley Cup finals. You’re everything to me.” My fingers ran through her hair as she rested her head against my chest. Her arm gently laid there against my chest as her fingers drew random patterns against my shirt.

“I won’t ever be able to forget you Jordan,” her voice was sad but comforting.

“You won’t have a chance to forget baby,” I kissed the top of her hair comforting. Why does she think she’ll have to forget me? We’ve been doing whatever we’ve been doing for months… “You’re not a temporary thing.”

***

I felt Lauren’s lips on my skin before I could process what was happening.

“Baby, what are you doing?” my voice was filled with sleep.

“Waking you up,” her voice was muffled against my skin as she kissed more of my neck. Her nails scraped softly against my chest.

“And why is that my pretty girl?” I flipped us over so she was on her back; a surprised smile appeared on her perfect little mouth as my nose ghosted over hers.

“Because you deserve to be woken up by my kisses after how you took care of me last night,” her lips met mine in a soft, caring kiss as I let my body get closer to hers. The amount of perfection that was Lauren was too much sometimes. She always put others first, especially me.

“You remember?” Did she remember how I was so honest with her? Did she remember how I told her she wasn’t just a temporary girl? She nodded her head as her tiny hands ghosted over my cheeks. Her hands held my face between them.

“I remember every word you said. I remember how your hands kept me close the entire night. I remember everything.” Her voice was confident in every word she said; her lips formed the words perfectly and they echoed through my brain.

“I meant what I said,” the words came out before I could stop them.

“I know baby, I know.” She let her arms coast to my neck and pulled my lips to hers.